#NoKings, but lots of badass public scholars in my 269th #ScholarSunday thread of public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely, & enjoy!
Articles:
Starting with a really important piece from David S. Rotenstein for Poynter on what is lost when local journalism disappears. & for a great example of public scholarly local journalism, here’s Rotenstein’s latest Covert NKY column, on the next steps for an important industrial history site.
On a similar note, thought-provoking work from Scott Neigh for his website on the role of grassroots journalism & book reviews in our current moment.
& for a beautiful example of in-depth investigative journalism, here’s B Speaks for Assigned Media on how trans & queer inmates find belonging & normalcy in a hostile prison system.
For a historical context for such experiences, check out Say Burgin for Clio & the Contemporary (free subscription needed & worth it) on the 1960s histories of “jail, no bail.”
For AAIHS Black Perspectives’ ongoing series on women & the Brown decision, Ashley Everson interviewed Lacey P. Hunter & Hettie V. Williams about their article on psychologist Mamie Phipps Clark.
While over at Solzy at the Movies, Danielle Solzman interviewed Phil Bertelsen & Sara Wolitzky, co-executive producers & directors of the important new series Black & Jewish America: An Interwoven History.
For Contingent Magazine, Melanie Carina Schmoll offered a fascinating postcard from Canada’s military museums on collective memory & war.
Really interesting essay from Tamara Sanderson for the Public Domain Review on the early modern European psychological epidemic known as the glass delusion.
While for JSTOR Daily, Danny Robb argued that the first e-sports was late 19th chess matches conducted through the telegraph.
Two open-access academic articles to share this week, including Felicia Gottmann, Floris van Swet, & Rémi Dewière for Past & Present on the migration-innovation nexus in the early modern world.
Also open-access is Sharon Ann Holt for Pennsylvania History on what did & didn’t happen at George Washington’s President’s House.
Speaking of Philadelphia during the Revolution, Maria Miller wrote for The Conversation on what Betsy Ross’ real story tells us about women’s work then & now.
On a very similar note, for her latest Saturday Evening Post Women’s Work column Tanya Roth highlighted women who shaped the American Revolution.
Three other columns from Post colleagues to share this week as well, including Christina Stanton on the historical detective work of genealogist Megan Smolenyak.
Teresa Bitler wrote for the Post on Ted DeGrazia, the 20th century artist who burned some of his paintings & hid many others to protest taxes.
& here’s Kory Stamper for the Post on how the German dye industry became both a threat & an opportunity during the First World War.
Current Events:
Turning to current events public scholarly articles, powerful piece from Qasim Rashid for his newsletter on why if the Supreme Court ends birthright citizenship, the American Experiment fails.
Julia Azari wrote for her Good Politics/Bad Politics newsletter on what the War Powers question reveals about MAGA.
Over at the History News Network’s newsletter, Sean T. Byrnes argued that the Trump Doctrine is really a global extension of Teddy Roosevelt’s Corollary.
While for his New York Times column (that’s a gift link) Jamelle Bouie engaged with Beau Baumann’s analysis of Democrats in Congress & theories of Constitutional power.
Two important essays for Public Books to share in this section, including the third installment of John Plotz’s Arendt in Dark Times series, on her praise for oases.
While Zachary Schulz wrote for Public Books on time, suffering, Medicaid, & why the waiting is the point.
For his Guardian column, John Dramani Mahama argued in favor of the UN’s formal recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity.
Gonna end this section with four inspiring articles, including John Nichols for The Nation on why Zohran Mamdani & Claire Valdez are quoting Irish rebel socialist James Connolly.
Stirring essay from Kathleen Cole & Robert Glover in The Edu Ledger arguing that higher education was built for moments like this.
I loved reading Caitlyn Clark & Lisa Xu’s reporting in Labor Notes on how meatpackers are striking for the first time in 40 years–& in 57 languages.
& on this #NoKings weekend, you know I have to end this section with a Variety interview with the one & only Bruce Springsteen on his political new tour.
Podcasts:
Lots of great new podcast episodes this week, including the latest for Kelly Therese Pollock’s Unsung History, featuring Rashauna Johnson on Louisiana’s briefly independent Feliciana Parishes.
For their War of the Rebellion podcast, Niels Eichhorn & Andrew Houck were joined by Bridget Bennett to talk about her book Antislavery in the Dissenting Atlantic: Archives & Unquiet Libraries, 1776-1865.
For Public Books’ Writing Latinos podcast, host Geraldo Cadava interviewed Álvaro Enrique about the first-ever English translation of his novel Now I Surrender.
For episode 92 of her Drafting the Past podcast, Kate Carpenter talked with Rhae Lynn Barnes about her book Darkology: Blackface & the American Way of Entertainment & the writing advice she didn’t take.
While for episode 199 of Axelbank Reports History & Today, Evan interviewed Megan Kate Nelson about her forthcoming book The Westerners: Mythmaking & Belonging on the American Frontier.
Two new episodes of Alycia Asai’s Civics & Coffee podcast this week, including an interview with Heather Ann Thompson about her new book on the Bernie Goetz shootings, & the second part of her two-part series on the easily overlooked president James Garfield.
Liam Heffernan’s America: The Story of the USA podcast also dropped two new episodes this week, including his own conversation with Heather Ann Thompson about Bernie Goetz, & a conversation with inclusive fitness advocate Alyssa Royse on the history of CrossFit.
The latest episode of Matt Gabriele’s American Medieval podcast features Sarah Baires on the medieval American city of Cahokia.
The new episode of Rich Napolitano’s Shipwrecks & Sea Dogs podcast tells the story of the daring WWII rescue of the HMS Rockingham.
Episode 128 of Moira Donegan & Adrian Daub’s In Bed with the Right podcast features Sam Huneke on queer women in Nazi Germany.
While for a bonus episode of Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, & Paul T. Klein’s Cold War Cinema podcast, Alice Lovejoy joined to talk about film manufacturing corporations & global imperialism.
For another take on film history, Miles Eady joined Holley Snaith’s Say It With History podcast to talk about how Hollywood musicals reflect society.
For the National Constitution Center’s We the People podcast, Julie Silverbrook moderated a conversation between Mary Sarah Bilder & Sara Georgini on the Revolutionary lives of Catherine Macaulay & Mercy Otis Warren.
For episode 437 of Liz Covart’s Ben Frankin’s World podcast, Lauren Duval joined to discuss civilian life in Revolutionary War occupied cities.
Over at John Fea’s The Way of Improvement Leads Home podcast, Avett Brothers bass player & John Quincy Adams historian Bob Crawford joined to discuss why JQA was America’s greatest post-president.
While for the latest episode of Jerry Landry’s Presidencies of the United States podcast, David Blumenthal & Jim Morone joined to discuss their book on the long battle over healthcare.
Continuing with current events conversations, Steven Monacelli & Michael Phillips joined the It Could Happen Here podcast to discuss how the 5th Circuit of Appeals became the scariest court in America.
For their This Ain’t It podcast, Melissa & Matthew Teutsch discussed the “voter fraud” lie & the heinous proposed law it built.
Two important new installments of Heather Cox Richardson’s American Conversations this week, including this one with fascism expert Timothy Snyder & this one with California Senator Alex Padilla.
Over at Derek Tyler Attico’s Soul of the Story podcast, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein joined to discuss her latest book The Edge of Space-Time. & head over to the Penguin Random House site for an excerpt from that fascinating forthcoming (soon, on April 7th) book!
Finally, for Wednesday’s MLB Opening Day I dropped the First Inning of Diamond in the Rough: Baseball, Bigotry, & the Battle for America, Season Two! & all week on my AmericanStudier blog I used that /occasion to trace the stories & contexts of historic baseball teams.
Books:
Before I get to new publications, here’s one I missed from February (& please always share publications I might have missed!), Matthew Hilton’s Charity After Empire: British Humanitarianism, Decolonization, & Development from Cambridge University Press.
Turning to new releases, finally out this week is Anna O. Law’s much-anticipated (my copy is in the mail!) Migration & the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, & Immigrants from Oxford University Press.
Also out this week is Megan Peiser’s British Women Novelists & the Review Periodical from Johns Hopkins University Press.
Out this coming Tuesday is another long-anticipated book, Megan Kate Nelson’s The Westerners: Mythmaking & Belonging on the American Frontier from Simon & Schuster.
While forthcoming on April 28th from Princeton University Press is Roland Betancourt’s Disneyland & the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth.
Four book-related Pittsburgh Review of Books essays to share this week, including an excerpt from Cristina Rivera Garza’s new novel Autobiography of Cotton (translated by Christina MacSweeney).
For the PRoB’s Third Person Limited series, hosts Nathan Pensky & Mason Stockstill interviewed the legendary John Sayles about his new novel & labor histories (past & present).
Speaking of legends, also for the PRoB Marcus Rediker offered sixteen writing tips.
& finally for the PRoB, Douglas C. MacLeod Jr. reviewed Howard Bryant’s new book Kings & Pawns: Jackie Robinson & Paul Robeson in America.
For the latest USIH book review, Andrew Hartman wrote about Caroline Jack’s Business as Usual: How Sponsored Media Sold American Capitalism in the 20th Century.
Bracing & important essay from Paul Elie for his The New Republic Shelf Life column on why nonfiction publishing, under serious threat at the moment, is more important than ever.
& for a great resource through which to find new books, nonfiction & fiction & everything else, check out the latest installment of Maris Kreizman’s Maris Review newsletter.
Newsletters and Blog Posts:
Speaking of newsletters, gonna end with a bunch of great ones & blog posts as usual, including Jenn M. Jackson’s 16th Love Note on why we have to honor the Black women in our lives, this Women’s History Month & always.
Also for Women’s History Month, Felicia Kornbluh wrote for her History Teaches… newsletter about the aftermath of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Pamela D. Toler continued her Women’s History Month History in the Margins series with interviews with authors & scholars Ericka Verba, Sara Catterall, Lydia Moland, Paige Bowers, & Dava Sobel.
& for a tribute to two important such scholars, check out Christine Adams & Julie Hardwick’s Society for French Historical Studies In Memoriam pieces on Patricia Ranum & Elborg Forster.
For an important corollary topic to consider this month (& always), check out Maxwell Kuzma’s newsletter on the fraught status of masculinity in our moment.
Turning to other current events pieces, Lincoln Paine wrote for his A Sea of Words newsletter on lies, truth, & MAGA.
While for his Campaign Trails newsletter, Kevin M. Kruse wrote about the Iran War & the real meanings of “boots on the ground.”
For the latest installment of her must-read The Handbasket newsletter, Marisa Kabas wrote about the appearance of ICE agents at airports.
Over at his Eye Black newsletter, Bradford William Davis wrote about the Texas Rangers baseball team’s frustrating role in reviving the racist history of the Texas Rangers.
While on a similar note, Jack Saunders wrote for his Blue & White Notes newsletter on his beloved Ipswich Town Football Club mainstreaming Nigel Farage’s fascism.
Lots of important pieces from Kevin M. Levin for his Civi War Memory newsletter this week, but I’ll highlight this nuanced take on why we’re not living through a civil war, but we should be living like it matters (as Americans did then).
Similarly nuanced thoughts as usual from William G. Pooley for his blog on why there’s no such things as the “history of science.”
Continuing with more historical subjects, Matt Eaton wrote for his Matt’s Historical Ephemera newsletter on 1944 arguments that England wasn’t doing enough to take care of its troops in the Far East.
Over at her Strange & Wondrous: Notes from a Science Historian newsletter, Surekha Davies wrote about a Marie Antoinette exhibition at London’s V&A museum.
While the latest installment of Sarah E. Bond’s Pasts Imperfect newsletter features Mika Ahuvia on the shared vocabulary of angels in antiquity, Yvonne Chireau on religious history in Sinners, & much more.
Three new posts from Etienne Toussaint to share this week: two for his The Tenure Track newsletter, including this one launching a series on creating an integrated academic success blueprint & this one concluding that two-part series; & this post for his Freedom Papers newsletter on Ralph Ellison, visibility, & the courage to rise.
Two fascinating posts from Benjamin Dreyer for his A Word About… newsletter to share, including this one on pronunciations of “polka” & more, & this one on the evolving trend of “generonyms.”
Gonna end with great cultural studies posts as ever, including Patricia A. Matthew for LitHub on whether Bridgerton’s diversity is more than just window dressing.
For Bright Wall/Dark Room, Sarah Welch-Larson reported from the True/False documentary film festival on new releases about time & time travel.
& for her latest Review Roulette newsletter, Vaughn Joy kicked off a monthly tribute to the one & only Mel Brooks with a delightful take on his debut film The Producers.
PS. I’m sure I missed plenty as ever, so please share more writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books below. Thanks, happy reading, listening, & learning, & stay safe while we protest & resist, my friends!
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